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Immigrant children

A widely acknowledged fact is the exploitation of black women’s reproductive labor during slavery. Enslaved black women were often raped in part to satisfy the sexual desires of slave owners, but it was also done, in large part, to create additional laborers for the support of the slave economy.

Credit: National Humanities Center

The children of enslaved black women were often separated from their mothers and sold off to work on plantations. The ages at which children were sold off to work on other plantations often varied from plantation to plantation. Needless to say, many mothers never saw their children again. All for profit and material gain.